The 25-year-old finished with nine goals in all competitions, impressing particularly during the latter stages of the campaign.

And Gray, a league championship winner with the Blues in 1985, believes the former Olympiakos man can continue his development under Roberto Martinez next season.

“Kevin Mirallas got six league goals and I thought he finished the season really well,” Gray said. “I’m really excited by seeing how he will start because he gave a snap-shot of how good he might be.

“What I was impressed with was that when he got his chance he took it, so much so that David Moyes had to play him. He ended up starting over 25 games so that’s a measure of how important he was to Everton.

“I think Kevin could be one of the really big stars next season if he has a good pre-season and everything goes well for him. He has got that little bit of magic and can do things with a football that not every Everton player can.

“He can play in the wide areas of the pitch where he can run at people, he can play off the frontman and if you get him in the middle of the pitch in real dangerous areas he can cause problems.

“I think it will be interesting to see what area of the pitch Roberto plays him in.”

Martinez is preparing to take charge of his first game as Everton boss this week, with the Blues taking on Austria Vienna in their opening pre-season friendly on Sunday.

He is closing in on the signings of Antolin Alcaraz and Arouna Kone from Wigan Athletic, and Gray believes the Spaniard, who replaced Moyes at Goodison this summer, will encourage a more patient approach this season.

“It will be interesting to see if he tries to make Everton different but I do think he will give the others a licence to pass the ball about,” Gray added.

“I think we may see Everton become a little more patient this year and look to keep the ball for a bit longer than they used to.”